68

QUAERITE ME

SEEK ye me, and ye shall live:

But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to

Beersheba:

For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,

And Beth-el shall come to nought.

Seek the Lord, and ye shall live;

Lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and

devour it,

And there be none to quench it in Beth-el.

Ye who turn judgment to wormwood,

And leave off righteousness in the earth,

Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion,

And turneth the shadow of death into the morning,

And maketh the day dark with night:

That calleth for the waters of the sea,

And poureth them out upon the face of the earth:
The Lord is his name:

That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong,
So that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.

69

DOMINE, AUDIVI

O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid :
O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years,
In the midst of the years make known;

In wrath remember mercy.

God came from Teman,

And the Holy One from mount Paran.
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of his praise.
And his brightness was as the light;
He had horns coming out of his hand :
And there was the hiding of his power.
Before him went the pestilence,

And burning coals went forth at his feet.

He stood, and measured the earth:

He beheld, and drove asunder the nations;
And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
The perpetual hills did bow :

His ways are everlasting.

I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction :

And the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
Was the Lord displeased against the rivers?

Was thine anger against the rivers?

Was thy wrath against the sea,

That thou didst ride upon thine horses,

And thy chariots of salvation?

Thy bow was made quite naked,

According to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word.

Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.

The mountains saw thee, and they trembled ;

The overflowing of the water passed by :

The deep uttered his voice,

And lifted up his hands on high.

The sun and moon stood still in their habitation:

At the light of thine arrows they went,

And at the shining of thy glittering spear.

Thou didst march through the land in indignation,

Thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.

Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people,

Even for salvation with thine anointed;

Thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, By discovering the foundation unto the neck.

Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages;

They came out as a whirlwind to scatter me:

Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.

Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses,

Through the heap of great waters.

When I heard, my belly trembled ;

My lips quivered at the voice:

Rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself,

That I might rest in the day of trouble:

When he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.

Although the fig-tree shall not blossom,
Neither shall fruit be in the vines ;
The labour of the olive shall fail,
And the fields shall yield no meat;

The flock shall be cut off from the fold,
And there shall be no herd in the stalls:

F

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will joy in the God of my salvation.

The Lord God is my strength,

And he will make my feet like hinds' feet,

And he will make me to walk upon mine high places.

70

A LOVER'S LULLABY

SING lullaby, as women do,

Wherewith they bring their babes to rest ;
And lullaby can I sing too,

As womanly as can the best.
With lullaby they still the child,
And, if I be not much beguiled,
Full many a wanton babe have I,
Which must be stilled with lullaby.

First, lullaby my youthful years!
It is now time to go to bed,
For crooked age and hoary hairs
Have won the haven within my head.
With lullaby then, youth, be still,
With lullaby content thy will.

Since courage quails and comes behind,
Go sleep, and so beguile thy mind!

Next, lullaby my gazing eyes,

Which wonted were to glance apace,
For every glass may now suffice

To show the furrows in my face!
With lullaby then wink awhile;
With lullaby your looks beguile;
Let no fair face, nor beauty bright,
Entice you eft with vain delight.

And lullaby my wanton will!

Let reason's rule now rein thy thought;
Since all too late I find by skill

How dear I have thy fancies bought.

With lullaby now take thine ease,
With lullaby thy doubts appease.
For trust to this, if thou be still,
My body shall obey thy will.

Eke lullaby my loving boy-
My little robin, take thy rest!
Since age is cold and nothing coy,
Keep close thy coin, for so is best.
With lullaby be thou content,
With lullaby thy lusts relent!

Let others pay which have more pence:
Thou art too poor for such expense.

Thus lullaby my youth, mine eyes,

My will, my ware, and all that was!
I can no more delays devise ;

But welcome pain, let pleasure pass!
With lullaby now take your leave,
With lullaby your dreams deceive,
And when you rise with waking eye,
Remember then this lullaby.

Adieu, O daisy of delight!
Adieu, most pleasant and perfyt;
Adieu, and have good night!

Adieu, thou lustiest of lyve;
Adieu, sweet thing superlatyve;
Adieu, my lamp of light!
Like as the lizard does indeed
Live by the manis' face,

Thy beauty likewise should me feed,
If we had time and space.

Adieu now; be true now,
Sen that we must depart.
Forget not, and set not

At light my constant heart.

Albeit my body be absent,
My faithful heart is vigilent

To do you service true;

But, when I hant into the place
Where I was wont to see that face,

My dolour does renew.

Then all my pleasure is but pain,
My cares they do increase;

84

Until I see your face again,
I live in heaviness.

Sore weeping, but sleeping,

The nights I overdrive;

Whiles mourning, whiles turning,
With thoughtis pensitive.

Sometime Good Hope did me comfort,
Saying, the time should be but short
Of absence to endure.

Then Courage quickens so my spreit,
When I think on my lady sweet,
I hald my service sure.
I cannot plaint of my estate,
I thank the gods above;
For I am first in her consait,
Whom both I serve and love.
Her friends aye weinds

To cause her to revoke ;
She bides, and slides

No more than does a rock.

O lady, for thy constancy
A faithful servant sall I be,
Thine honour to defend ;
And I sall surely, for thy saik,
As doth the turtle for her maik,
Love to my lyfis end.

No pain nor travail, fear nor dreid,
Shall cause me to desist.

Then, aye when ye this letter read,
Remember how we kissed:
Embracing, with lacing,

With others tearis sweet!
Sic blissing in kissing

I quit till we two meet.

Alexander Montgomerie.

72

AUBADE

HEY! now the day daws;
The jolly cock craws;
Now shroudes the shaws,

Through Nature anon.